Leadership Gold Part 9 of 10: Getting the Meeting Done Before the Meeting
February 26, 2009 by dr. lam
Maxwell is full of practical advice. My major goal this year is to schedule consistent monthly meetings for the entire year, which I have already done. I have also done that for my salon and spa. One thing that Maxwell talks about is having a meeting before the meeting with your key players. I am now soliciting ideas and advice from my key players and from all players well in advance of the meeting for several reasons.
First, I want to know what is on their mind before I walk through that door. That helps me avoid being blindsided by something in public that we should have probably addressed in private first. Second, it brings clarity to the subject so that the person bringing it up can have a “coach” before the meeting. That is what we do in my EO forum. When someone is going to present the following month, the presenter undergoes intense coaching from last month’s presenter (or from someone who is well versed in the presenter’s subject matter) so that the presenter can achieve clarity and focus before walking into the meeting. In fact, a bad presentation in my forum can be blamed as much on the presenter as it can on the coach who failed to coach the presenter adequately. Third, meeting key players before the meeting will help elicit a coalition so that there is relative unanimity on a subject before going in so that we are all not in a bickering mood. Fourth, it helps create a continuity so that the meeting is not just a single isolated happening once a month. I actually have weekly meetings for my spa and even shorter meetings almost every day since my spa is in a growth trajectory. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, accountability is very hard to have on a monthly basis. A weekly basis or shorter interval is necessary for any real level of accountability to be had.
I know this topic is one in which it seems pretty focused on a business owner trying to lead his/her staff. However, I think this subject can be applicable at many levels even for non-business owners or non business people all together. For example, if you are a staff member, you might want to make sure that a task is being completed on time, so you set up regular meetings to make sure that things are progressing well. You would then personally meet with your team members between these established meetings to make sure everything is in fact on track.
In my EO forum, I have learned a valuable trick that does not breach confidentiality (which is sacred to me and my forum group). Some of my forum members actually carry out family meetings on a weekly basis in which even the kids lead the meetings. This teaches children a leadership role early on and allows them to learn how to delegate, assume responsibility, run a meeting, and be on time. Obviously, the parent could run the meeting too. Even spouses together can have a family meeting if there are no children in the family. There are many versions, permutations, and merits to a meeting, but the focus of this blog is understanding the merit of the meeting before the meeting. Maxwell is simply brilliant and insightful.
Comments
4 Responses to “Leadership Gold Part 9 of 10: Getting the Meeting Done Before the Meeting”
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Most of the meetings I ever go to are really pointless. It is more like everyone is just going through the motions and having the meeting only because it’s required by some policy. I guess if people had a pre-meeting about what they were going to meet about, it would make it more purposeful. I do like your point about families having meetings and kids getting experience with how to be leaders. Wow, Dr. Lam, you have some good insight!
thanks heather. i also learned from maxwell that there are 2 things that screw up a meeting:
1. the leader has no agenda.
2. the staff has their own agendas.
I can see how that would screw up a meeting.lol Great points!
thanks heather!!!